Monday, July 14, 2008

NTTB

"According to George Nasrawi, head of the syndicate of Lebanese food industries, exports have been hit by rising health and safety standards. While there was potential for the Lebanon's agriculture sector to expand, the EU in particular should take more responsibility about the standards it sets, Nasrawi told an agribusiness conference in Beirut on June 26. It is costly to implement EU production requirements and in many cases Lebanese food industries cannot afford to meet them, he was reported as saying.

Part of the issue is that, while the EU has lowered tariff barriers on many Lebanese goods, as a result of the EU-Lebanon Association Agreement that was ratified in February 2006, it has also ramped up quality requirements, setting control and monitoring standards that the country's agriculture sector cannot meet, especially on pesticide levels."